budget

Oregon lawmakers will meet in a special session Friday to consider how to fill ODOT’s massive budget gap. The Transportation Committee heard testimony Monday on the bill being considered.

Oregon lawmakers are trying to find a regular source of funding to pay for fighting wildfires.  Fighting wildfires across the state costs around $300 million annually.  The Legislature is trying to find a regular source to pay that bill, instead of relying only on the general fund.  State Senator Fre...

Washington Republican senators are warning that the budget recently proposed by the majority party goes above and beyond what the state needs and will hurt rural Washingtonians.  State senator Ron Muzzall said the $17 billion tax increase in the Democrats budget is beyond belief.  ...

A bill being debates in the Oregon Legislature would create a special tax exemption for some older homeowners.  House Republican Leader Christine Drazan said she wrote the bill after talking with aging constituents struggling to stay in their own home.  She sai...

Currently, Washington is one of two states charging sales tax on farm equipment.  But several lawmakers in Olympia are trying to change that.  Senate Bill 5092 would provide a sales and use tax exemption for farm machinery and equipment with a price tag of over $10,000.   “It's not ...

Is Social Security going broke?  That’s one of several myths out there about Social Security.  The AARP’s Sean Voskuhl said nothing could be further from the truth.   “Social Security will not run out of money, as long as workers and employers continue to pay payroll taxes," he said.  "It’s a pay-as-you-go system, but it doe...

With so many question marks for Northwest growers this upcoming season, it’s important producers control what they can.  Andrew Eddie, President of the Washington state Hay Growers Association says interest rates, trade, international conflict, and of course weather are all out of control of the growers; but one thing you can control is relationships.  He noted a go...

What kind of impact is inflation having on the farming community?  Jake Carpenter with Equilus Capital Partners offers his observations, and some ideas how you can best weather this storm.   Pacific Northwest Ag Network: Equilus Equity Minute: The Impact Of Inflation on Apple Podcasts   If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquareme... Rea

It’s a growing concern for many in the agriculture community, availably of inputs critical for operations in 2022. Kevin Thorsness, technical service manager at Bayer Crop Science said supply chain issues remain top of mind for most, if not all, in the industry. ...

USDA's WIC program has been under the spotlight as of recent. "Which is designed to provide healthy foods for pregnant women, and young moms, and young children. That's a program that has been incredibly effective except that, as I said earlier, we have some challenged in terms of access," noted Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack ...